smk said:
XP Home version crashed. And the recovery CDs are not available with Acer.
Acer advised me to buy a brand new XP Home in retail to install. I the stores
I fine XP Home updrade SP2. Will this work? I am suspecious because it is
called "upgrade" and it may require full functional SP1 before installation.
I would like a clean installation of XP Home, So which one to buy?
If you have an available installation CD for any of Windows 95,
Windows 98, Windows 98 SE or Windows Me then you can purchase a retail
upgrade version of Windows XP Home, boot your computer with the XP CD,
and do a clean install. At an early point in the installation process
you will be asked to briefly insert your disk from a previous version
of Windows and then the clean install will proceed.
But don't let Acer off the hook that easy. The terms of their OEM
licensing agreement with Microsoft requires that Acer provide *a
method* by which the Windows XP can be restored to the "as it left the
factory state". They can do this with recovery CDs or with a hidden
system recovery partition on the hard drive. This is not optional -
they must provide *a method*.
About the only circumstance where their response would be justified is
if the computer is out of warranty and the hard drive has failed
completely. And even then they should offer you a set of recovery CDs
for a reasonable fee. Contact them again and if you get the same
story ask to speak to a supervisor.
Good luck
Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair
"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."
